Sunday 16 September 2012

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H LNEMPLC LITERARY FESTIVAL AT WOODSTOCK 2012 THE BLENHEIM PALACE The Blenheim Palace Literary Festival at Woodstock Wednesday 12 – Sunday 16 September 2012

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Festival dates 2013 Wednesday 18 – Sunday 22 September 2013 Wednesday 12 – Sunday 16 September 2012 The Blenheim Palace Literary Festival at Woodstock 2013 CANADIAN LITERATURE, ART AND CULTURE From 2013 the festival will stage a programme each year to reflect Canada’s exceptional contribution to literature, art and culture – a rich fusion of British, French, European and indigenous traditions. During World War II Blenheim Palace was the headquarters of intelligence operations for The British Empire, and at nearby Ditchley Park, Winston Churchill regularly entertained the political and military leaders of Canada and the USA.

Canadian culture is represented by a diverse range of leading figures that include: The Blenheim Palace Literary Festival at Woodstock 2013 Margaret Atwood • Max Beaverbrook • Saul Bellow Roch Carrier • Emily Carr • Benjamin Chee Chee Since 1966 Blenheim Palace has hosted major events to honour the memory of Sir Winston Churchill Cirque du Soleil • Leonard Cohen • David Cronenberg – born at the palace in 1874. Robertson Davies • Arthur Erickson • Mavis Gallant Memorial Lectures have been delivered at the palace by 5 former British Prime Ministers (Sir Alec Frank Gehry • Glenn Gould • Anne Hébert • Tomson Highway Reproduced with the kind permission of the National Gallery of Canada Douglas Home, Harold Macmillan, Harold Wilson, Edward Heath and Margaret Thatcher) as well as Sir Winston Churchill, Yousuf Karsh • Robert Lepage • Raymond Massey by 3 former Presidents (Valerie Giscard d’Estaing, Bill Clinton and Mikhail Gorbachev). bronze bust by Clare Tom Thomson (1877-1917) is Canada’s most iconic artist. His paintings apply the modernist techniques of Marshall McLuhan • Lucy Maud Montgomery Sheridan. It is on display the European avant-garde to scenes of Canada’s remote wilderness. The Jack Pine (above), perhaps his most Norval Morrisseau • Alice Munro • Michael Ondaatje From 2013 The Sir Winston Churchill Memorial Lecture will be staged each year in September as for visitors to see at famous and beloved work, presents a bedraggled pine tree against the backdrop of a sunset on a northern Blenheim Palace near to lake. Painted in 1916, at the height of WWI, it remains an image of defiant survival in the face of a harsh Oscar Peterson • Christopher Plummer • Bill Reid part of the literary festival programme, under the direction of Lady Henrietta Spencer-Churchill, the room where he was born. and forbidding natural world. Mordecai Richler • Jean-Paul Riopelle • Donald and Keifer with all profits being devoted, as before, to local charities. ‘Canada is the linchpin of the English-speaking world.’ Sutherland • Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven Winston Churchill, from a speech given at the Mansion House in 1941. Michel Tremblay Festival Director’s Welcome A warm welcome to the Also new this year is our redesigned website. 2012 Blenheim Palace Please do have a look around if you have not Literary Festival at done so already. Woodstock. We are Ours is a very intimate festival, and it is a fantastic pleased to announce a opportunity to meet and talk to your favourite new name for the writers, to join in the debate and to socialise, all festival. The Blenheim in the magnificent surroundings of both the palace Palace Literary Festival and the town, with its host of historic hotels, inns, acknowledges that our restaurants, tea rooms and distinctive shops. events are held both in the palace and the town (where we have a record number of I am delighted that performance poet Roger speakers this year). McGough will open this year’s festival. He will be joined during the five days by many distinguished We have a few surprises! A candle-lit late- figures, including the former Irish President, Dr night event in St Mary Magdalene Church Mary Robinson; Frederick Forsyth; Lord Ashdown; featuring US author Deborah Harkness Ken Hom; Madhur Jaffrey; Hannah Rothschild; whose spooky ‘All Souls’ trilogy is proving and Liz Earle. to be a publishing sensation on both sides of the Atlantic, and a performance of Macbeth As always we are indebted to our many in 90 Minutes, a prelude to the Promenade longstanding and new sponsors and partners for Theatre we plan to introduce for 2013 their support and participation. I would onwards. particularly like to thank HSBC Premier, English Heritage, The Oxford Times, Ian and Carol Sellars Our music events also offer something and Eileen and Munir Majid. different this year. Elkie Brooks will be talking about her new autobiography and Finally I look forward to welcoming you all to singing with her band. We have biographer Blenheim Palace and Woodstock between Philip Norman on Mick Jagger and the September 12 and 16 for five days of talks, Rolling Stones in this 50th anniversary year debates, literary lunches, dinners and of the band’s formation, and Peter Conrad entertainment at Britain’s ultimate boutique literary on Verdi and Wagner. Both those events will festival. also be accompanied by music. SALLY DUNSMORE Festival Director

1 HRH The Duke of Gloucester KG GCVO Royal Patron of The Festival

To come to events at Blenheim Palace is to follow in the path of our predecessors of the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. The palace was built in the finest contemporary style on behalf of a grateful nation and has continued to represent to following generations the rewards for international success. Today, it is the venue for the Blenheim Palace Literary Festival at Woodstock, adding gravitas to events reflecting public interest in all sorts of literary endeavours and at which opinions and counter opinions are shared on many issues. I hope that all who come will feel they are partaking in an event of consequence. RICHARD

2 Blenheim Palace When war broke out in Europe, John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, a military genius, was chosen as leader of the allied troops. During 1702 and 1703 Marlborough defended Holland from invasion from the French. In 1704 a decisive battle took place near a small village called Blindheim, Blenheim as it is now, where Marlborough won a great allied victory over the forces of Louis X1V. In reward, Queen Anne granted Marlborough the Royal Manor of Woodstock and signified that she would build him there a house to be called Blenheim. Sir John Vanbrugh was appointed to design Blenheim Palace and Capability Brown landscaped the park, creating the great lake over which Vanbrugh’s Grand Bridge now stands. Blenheim Palace is one of the largest finest private houses in England, a world heritage site set in 2100 acres of parkland. Its stunning Formal Gardens include the Italian Garden, the Water Terraces, Rose Garden, Arboretum and Maze. It is home to the 11th Duke of Marlborough and was the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill who was born in 1874. Guided tours of the palace run throughout most of the season and ‘Blenheim Palace: The Untold Story’ tells the story of the last 300 years through the eyes of the servants.

General Information Opening Times. The Palace, Park and Formal Gardens open daily until 4 November. From 7 November to 14 December the Palace and Formal Gardens are closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. The Park is open all year except on Christmas Day. The Park opens at 9am, Formal Gardens and the Palace at 10.30am. Last entry to the Park and Palace is at 4.45pm. The Palace closes at 5.30pm and the Park and Gardens close at 6pm. During the closed season, the Park opens at 9am and closes at 4.45pm or dusk. www.blenheimpalace.com

Tickets for festival events on Wednesday 12 September, Friday 14 September and Sunday 16 September at Blenheim Palace include free entry to the grounds and gardens on the day of the ticket (price normally £11.50). Please note the grounds and gardens close at 5pm.

3 Festival Patrons and Sponsors

Royal Patron We should like to thank the following for their most generous support of the festival: HRH The Duke of Gloucester KG GCVO Title sponsor Partners Sponsors Patrons His Grace The Duke of Marlborough The Rt. Hon David Cameron MP Lord Fellowes Ben Okri Felicity Bryan David Freeman Professor Martin Kemp Festival Directors Bruce Thew Chairman Festival Hotel Sponsors Jill Dunsmore Deputy Chairman Sally Dunsmore Special Adviser Tony Byrne Administrator Louise Croft Box Office Managers Tricia Simms, Regional Media Sponsor Caitlin McNamara, Vinny Bunby Publicity Eleanor Hutchinson, Four Communications Ian and Carol Sellars (0)20 3023 9075 (media enquiries only) Debates Co-ordinator Mike Farley Eileen and Munir Majid Green Room Manager Rachel Byrne Cultural Partner Graphic Design Stafford & Stafford

Website and Content Editor Derek Holmes

Website Design Gibson Strategy

4 Festival Bookseller Associates

City Audio Visual Holt Hotel Kings Arms Hotel The Festival on-site bookseller is La Galleria Restaurant Blenheim Palace Retail who provide Pollen Florist Woodstock speakers’ books at all festival venues. The Marlborough School Methodist Church Festival Online Bookseller Oxfordshire Museum St Mary Magdalene Church The Blenheim Literary Festival at Woodstock Save the Children Bookshop is very pleased that amazon.co.uk are the Wake up to Woodstock official online partner for the festival. Access the festival’s Amazon bookshop by following Woodstock Bookshop the links on the website www.amazon.co.uk We should also like to thank all Prestige Publishing Partner the voluntary festival stewards for their time and generous support throughout the festival.

Front cover photo and all Blenheim images by kind permission of Oxford Picture Library and Blenheim Palace

Back cover photo by kind permission of KT Bruce Programme printed by www.ktbrucephotography.com Oxuniprint, the printing division of Oxford University Press All other photos individually credited where known

The festival is produced by Iconic Programmes Ltd Registered office 69-71 Oxford Street, Woodstock, Oxon OX20 1TJ Company number 07180906

5 English Heritage, Cultural Partner The Blenheim Palace Literary Festival at Woodstock 2012 Box Office 01865 305305 • blenheimpalaceliteraryfestival.com WEDNESDAY 12th SEPTEMBER

102 Roger McGough introduced by Professor John Carey 101 Anne de Courcy FESTIVAL OPENING EVENT: The Fishing Fleet: Husband-Hunting in As Far As I Know the Raj

Blenheim Palace, The Orangery / 6pm / £10 Photo: Will Wilkinson Methodist Church, Woodstock / 6pm / £10 A new book of poems by performance poet Roger The Fishing Fleet was McGough is always an event and As Far As I Know is the name given to the truly a cause for celebration and a perfect way to band of young ladies open the 2012 festival. Hilarious and surreal, he is a that travelled to India poet of many voices. Menace and melancholy there in the late 19th may be, but with plenty of McGough’s characteristic century/early 20th wit and wordplay too. century in search of a husband. They Newly elected President of the Poetry Society, Roger followed a stream of McGough has been honoured with a CBE for services Britain’s brightest to literature and the Freedom of the City of Liverpool young men who went for good behaviour. McGough’s work includes hit out to India to work as songs Lily The Pink and the Aintree Iron with comedy administrators, soldiers and businessmen. Writer and poetry and music trio The Scaffold, membership of journalist Anne de Courcy tells the story of these The Scaffold successor the GRIMMS, The Mersey women for the first time. She tells of a hectic social Sound poetry anthology with Adrian Henri and Brian scene, featuring dances, parties, amateur theatricals, Patten, and presenting the long-running BBC Radio 4 picnics, tennis tournaments, cinemas, tiger shoots programme Poetry Please. The beat goes on. and glittering dinners. Men outnumbered women John Carey is senior literary critic of The Sunday four to one, and there were whirlwind romances and Times and emeritus Merton Professor of English at frequent marriages. The reality for those who did find The University of Oxford. a husband was often a far cry from the excitement of the social scene. They were often whisked away to a This event is suitable for adults and those aged 14+. remote outpost where there were few Europeans and disease was a constant presence. ‘rueful, unpredictable observation to please the sharpest wits’ The Independent De Courcy was women’s editor on the London Evening News in the 1970s and has written regularly ‘a poemy torch in dark corners’ Ian McMillan for the Evening Standard and Daily Mail. Her Poetry Review previous works include The English in Love, Diana Mosley and Snowdon. Woodstock Sponsored by

7 £95 per person sharing a Cotswold room Created for your enjoyment and available Sunday to Thursday during September, October & November, subject to availability.

After settling into your recently refurbished Cotswold double room, enjoy a Feathers Gin Martini Cocktail in our Guinness World Record Gin Bar, or relax in our secluded courtyard. You may enjoy a three course dinner in our 2 AA Rosette restaurant, or even dine al fresco if you desire. Wake up in wonderful Woodstock and enjoy a hearty Cotswold breakfast before exploring the beautiful Blenheim Palace and surrounding villages and countryside. We will even give you some V.I.P. discount tickets to Bicester Village Retail outlet. If you would like to upgrade to our other room types, an upgrade supplement will apply. Please ask reception for availability.

For reservations and availability please contact The Feathers, telephone: 01993 812 291 or email: [email protected] www.feathers.co.uk Clock off… wind down… chill out @FeathersHotel Box Office 01865 305305 • blenheimpalaceliteraryfestival.com THURSDAY 13th SEPTEMBER

202 Melanie King 213 A Guided Coffee Tasting with 201 Belinda Jack the East India Company Can Onions Cure Ear-ache? The Woman Reader: Reading Practices Medical Advice from 1769 The Story of Coffee Across Cultures and Centuries

Methodist Church / 10.30am / £10 The Feathers Hotel / 11am / £12 Methodist Church / 12 noon / £10 William Buchan’s Coffee is one of the world’s most widely consumed Do men and women have a Domestic Medicine was drinks, and its story has its roots in Ethiopia. As different approach to the book an 18th-century legend states, an Ethiopian goatherder by the name reading? Oxford academic Briton would have turned of Kaldi first discovered the potency of the coffee and writer Dr Belinda Jack to if they were struck by bean after observing his goats ‘dancing’ after says the differences are illness. The Scottish chewing coffee cherries. many and fascinating. In The physician recommended This session explores how coffee, first cultivated in Woman Reader, she travels cow dung for some the Arab world, spread around the globe. It looks at from the Cro-Magnon cave to common ailments, the difference between coffees of Asia, Africa and today’s digital stores, crossing prescribed crushed oyster the Americas, and at where the word mocha comes the world to tell the full story of women’s reading. shells for heartburn and counted powdered Spanish from. Discover the differences between various fly and genital trusses among his stranger bits of Women’s reading has been a cause of controversy coffee types and enjoy stories of the first British advice. Nevertheless, some of it still holds true today, across the ages, with many men fearing it would lead coffeehouses – including a famous one named such as eating a varied and healthy diet and plenty women to neglect their duties and even that it would Lloyds. of fresh air and exercise. Historical non-fiction writer make them sexually licentious. Jack explains how, Melanie King will discuss this new version of The event will also include tastings of several coffees despite this, there were always men and women who Buchan’s work which she has edited. and discussions on what influences their flavours. promoted women’s literacy and were often prepared to face considerable risk to do so. And she Domestic Medicine would have been found in introduces us to a series of women with a passion for coffee-houses, apothecary shops and the private reading and books – from a Babylonian princess to homes of late 18th-century Britain. Fletcher Christian New England mill girls. She also explores modern and his fellow mutineers ensured they took a copy as reading trends among men and women and they fled the HMS Bounty. censorship on reading in countries such as Iran. King worked on a horse farm in Australia, did Jack is tutorial fellow in French at Christ Church, voluntary work with victims of torture in London and Oxford. Previous works include George Sand: A travelled widely in Asia before settling in Oxfordshire Woman’s Life Writ Large and Beatrice’s Spell. as a writer. Her works include The Dying Game: A Curious History of Death and Prophets, Seers and In association with Save the Children Bookshop, Visionaries. Sponsored by Woodstock

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205 Geza Vermes talks to Diarmaid MacCulloch 212 Alastair Lack Christian Beginnings: From Nazareth to Nicaea, AD 30-325 A Woodstock Town Walk

St Mary Magdalene Church / 12 noon / £10 Meet outside The Oxfordshire Museum / 2pm / £23 includes cream tea (tea and scones) Event lasts 2 hours Professor Geza Vermes has been described by the Daily Telegraph as ‘the greatest Jesus scholar of his Join Alastair Lack for a generation’. Here he talks about his new book to two-hour walking tour of renowned historian Professor Sir Diarmaid Woodstock and Blenheim MacCulloch, himself author of A History of Park, followed by tea at Christianity and presenter of a recent BBC2 series of The Feathers Hotel. the same name. The town of Woodstock In Christian Beginnings, Vermes re-examines all the has a rich royal history of surviving texts to show the evolution of Jesus from at least 1,000 years. Post Jewish prophet to His place at the heart of a new Norman Conquest it religion. He explains how Jesus’ teachings were became a royal borough, spread by Paul and John and by their successors built at the gates of a royal and how an anti-conformist Jewish sub-sect rose to park, where medieval become the official state religion of the Roman kings came to hunt. Henry II would visit Woodstock Empire. Vermes gets beyond the myths and legends to meet his mistress, Rosamund Clifford; the Black

to uncover the true figure of Jesus and the birth of Geza Vermes Prince was born in the town; and Elizabeth I was Christianity. imprisoned in the royal palace by her sister, Mary Tudor. In 1703, the manor of Woodstock was given Vermes was born in Hungary in 1924. He was the to John, Duke of Marlborough, victor at the battle of first Professor of Jewish Studies at the University of Blenheim, by Queen Anne. Sir John Vanbrugh Oxford and is one of the world’s greatest experts on designed Blenheim Palace amid 2000 acres of early Christianity and the Dead Sea Scrolls. formal gardens and parkland. The palace is still MacCulloch is Professor of the History of the Church home to the Marlborough family and renowned as at St Cross College, Oxford. His A History of the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill. Christianity won the $75,000 McGill University’s Cundill Prize, the largest history book prize in the Alastair Lack worked for the BBC World Service for world. nearly 30 years and was head of English programmes. He also worked in television and at Radio 4.

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211 A.N. Wilson talks to Jenny Uglow 203 Jeany Spark and Ed Newell The Potter’s Hand Grimm Tales: Exploring Spirituality in the Brothers Grimm

St Mary Magdalene Church / 2pm / £10 St Mary Magdalene Church / 4pm / £10 Celebrated novelist and biographer Grimm Tales explores the spirituality of Cinderella, Snow White, Little Red Riding A.N.Wilson discusses his latest novel, The Hood and Hansel and Gretel through performance and music. The performance Potter’s Hand, with fellow biographer Jenny uses Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy’s adaptations of the classic Brothers Grimm Uglow. Wilson returns to his roots in fairy tales, readings by actress Jeany Spark, of the BBC’s Wallander series, Staffordshire, where his father was songs by the award-winning team of Nick Bicât and Phillip Ridley, and managing director of Josiah Wedgwood & reflections by Canon Edmund Newell, sub-dean of Christ Church, Oxford. Sons, and explores the lives of members of Grimm Tales was developed for a St Paul’s Institute event about children’s the famous Wedgwood pottery family. He spirituality in 2008. It was later performed at St Paul’s Cathedral and played to a picks up the story of Josiah Wedgwood in sell-out audience at the 2010 Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival. 1774 as he sets out to create a thousand- piece Frog Service for Catherine the Great. Spark is a graduate of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. She is known for her portrayal The story follows Josiah’s nephew, Tom, as of Linda Wallander in the BBC series Wallander. She also appeared in the recent he travels to America to buy clay for china television film Hattie. Newell is sub-dean of Christ Church, Oxford, and was from the Cherokee. Tom is caught up in the previously Chancellor of St Paul’s Cathedral and founding director of St Paul’s American rebellion and falls for a Cherokee A. N. Wilson Institute. woman who ends up playing a role in Josiah’s great creation, the Portland Vase. The Potter’s Hand is a The show is suitable for adults and older children and lasts 75 minutes. sweeping saga that follows the fortunes of many members of the Wedgwood family. Wilson is a prolific novelist and biographer. His last novel, Winnie and Wolf, was longlisted for the 2007 Booker prize, and his non-fiction work includes Dante in Love, Tolstoy, The Victorians and C.S. Lewis: A Biography. Uglow’s work includes The Lunar Men, the story of the highly influential Lunar Society that included Josiah Wedgwood among its prominent members. She also appears again at the festival to Jenny Unglow discuss her new biography The Pinecone: The Story of Forgotten Romantic Sarah Losh.

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208 Barry Cunliffe 207 Alexandra Curatolo 209 Jenny Uglow Britain Begins: Who Were Our Curatolo Arini Marsala Tasting The Pinecone: The Story of Forgotten Earliest Ancestors? Romantic Sarah Losh La Galleria / 4.30pm / £15 Methodist Church / 4pm / £10 Alexandra Curatolo joins Methodist Church / 6pm / £10 Renowned archaeologist us all the way from Sicily Sarah Losh built Wreay and author Professor Sir to lead this tasting of Church in Cumbria in Barry Cunliffe sets off in Marsala made by the 1842. It is one of the search of our earliest oldest family-owned most unusual and ancestors, following the Marsala producer on the inspiring churches of the trail as bands of hunter- island. Curatolo Arini was Victorian era. Biographer gathers first followed the founded in 1875 by Vito Jenny Uglow uncovers retreating ice north Curatolo Arini and its the incredible story 12,000 years ago and Marsalas are still made in behind the church and continuing up to the eve the traditional way by the its builder. Losh was born into a family of wealthy of the Norman conquest. fifth generation of Curatolos. The Marsala Superiore Cumbrian industrialists and had a zest for progress He explains how modern is made with light wines from traditional Sicilian and love of the past. She let her imagination flow in archaeology turns many of our long-held grapes grillo, inzolia and cataratto. These are then the church, which includes carvings of ammonites, assumptions on the head, including about the origin fortified with white grape spirit and aged for two scarabs and poppies; an arrow piercing the wall; a of the Celts, the impact of the Roman occupation years in a cask, resulting in a rich but dry, aromatic tortoise gargoyle launching itself into the air; and her and the extent of ebb and flow between the and heady wine. signature pinecones everywhere. The Pinecone is populations of Britain and the continent. The Curatolo Arini range includes five marsalas – also the story of the Losh family, friends of Wordsworth and Coleridge, and a story of village life Britain Begins is also about the development of Riserva Storico 1988, Superiore Reserve, Superiore of the time. modern archaeology. Cunliffe looks at the first Secco, Superiore Garibaldi, and Fine. investigations of stone circles and monoliths 250 In 1800 Horatio Nelson Uglow grew up in Cumbria. Her works include years ago and examines the latest DNA and isotope ordered 500 barrels of award-winning biographies of Elizabeth Gaskell and studies of human remains that allow us to track the marsala a year for his William Hogarth. Nature’s Engraver: A Life of movements of populations. Mediterranian fleet. Thomas Bewick won the National Arts Writers Award 2007 and A Gambling man: Charles II and the Cunliffe is Emeritus Professor of Archaeology at the Restoration was shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson University of Oxford. Prize 2010.

In association Presented by with The Woodstock Woodstock Woodstock Bookshop

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204 Paddy Ashdown 210 Ken Hom A Brilliant Little Operation: The Cockleshell Heroes and the An evening with Ken Hom Greatest Raid of WWII Feathers Hotel and Restaurant / 7.30pm / £95 St Mary Magdalene Church / 6pm / £10 One of the world’s greatest Chinese chefs, Paddy Ashdown rose to fame as an MP and popular leader of the Liberal Ken Hom, has prepared a special menu for Democrat party. Before that, however, he was a member of the Royal Marines’ festival-goers at the festival’s official hotel. elite Special Boat Service (SBS). Here he tells the story of Operation Frankton, the This exclusive evening in the company of remarkable canoe raid on German ships in Bordeaux Harbour in 1942 that was Hom opens with a Champagne and canapés the catalyst for the formation of the SBS. The daring mission, led by ‘Blondie’ reception followed by a menu prepared by Hasler, was to paddle ‘Cockleshell’ chefs of The Feathers Hotel and Restaurant canoes 100 miles up the Gironde under the guidance of Hom. Dishes will River and into the harbour to sink the include crispy Vietnamese spring rolls, spicy German ships at anchor. Only two hot and sour soup, steamed Cantonese style men made it back alive. fish, crackling Chinese roast pork, stir-fried Chinese greens, and warm mango compote Lord Ashdown has always been with basil and vanilla ice cream. Guests will have a chance to sample exactly fascinated by Operation Frankton and what has made prime ministers and presidents the world over turn to Hom when recalls meeting Hasler once as a boy. they need a Chinese theme to a state dinner. He has researched unseen archives to write the definitive story of the raid, Hom, who will say a few words during the evening, is widely regarded as the uncovering Whitehall rivalry and leading world authority on Chinese cooking. He learnt to cook as a young boy in breakdowns in communication that his uncle’s Chicago restaurant. He taught cookery to help with his university fees made the success of the raid even and his efforts were so popular he was recommended to the Culinary Academy. more remarkable. He was spotted by the great Indian chef Madhur Jaffrey who recommended him to the BBC and Ken Hom’s Chinese Cookery was born in 1984. A number of A Brilliant Little Operation is further BBC series followed. published around the time of the festival and will be marked by a Hom now has his own range of cookware, and acts as a consultant for dozens of repeat of a BBC TV documentary on leading hotels and restaurants and for the Cathay Pacific airline. Hom’s new the Cockleshell raid fronted by series, Exploring China: A Culinary Adventure, was screened by BBC2 in Ashdown. August. The price includes reception, dinner and wines. Presented by

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302 John Julius Norwich introduced by Mark Pemberton 309 Shakespeare’s Macbeth The English Heritage Lecture: A History of England in 100 Places Macbeth in 90 Minutes

Blenheim Palace, Courtyard Restaurant / 10.30am / £10 Blenheim Palace, The Orangery / 10.30am / £15 Acclaimed historian and broadcaster John Julius (includes coffee/tea and cakes) Viscount Norwich condenses the history of England Five actors perform into a geographic tour of 100 places in this year’s Macbeth in 90 minutes English Heritage lecture. Norwich conveys the social, with one piano, no economic, cultural, domestic and religious history of lighting, no set and no the land and the seminal political events through intermission. The cast visits to 100 key sites. It makes for a great read and includes Royal a fascinating tour of the country. Shakespeare Company The tour goes from Stonehenge to the modern-day actor Jan Knightley, Gherkin. Along the way, Viscount Norwich visits currently appearing in castles, cottages and the Bridgwater Canal. The The Comedy of Errors result is a thought-provoking insight into the national and The Tempest, and heritage and a discussion about the most important Anna Northam, who events in English history. has appeared on television in Midsomer Murders and in Bring Me the Norwich has served on the executive committee of Head of Mavis Davis. They are part of the the National Trust. He is a fellow of the Royal Society Performance Research Group, based at the of Literature, the Royal Geographical Society and the Shakespeare Institute in Stratford. The cast also Society of Antiquaries. He has written and presented includes Cassie Ash, Emily Oliver and Will Sharpe around 30 historical documentaries for television and and they are directed by lecturer and fellow of the his publications include The Normans in Sicily, The Shakespeare Institute Jaq Bessell. Architecture of Southern England, and A History of Venice. This event marks a new partnership between the Shakespeare Institute and the festival. From 2013, it The inaugural English Heritage lecture was given last will see the festival stage an annual ‘promenade year by HRH The Duke of Gloucester. Viscount theatre’ where the audience follows the actors as Norwich will be introduced by Mark Pemberton, they perform. Promenade theatre will alternate director of national collections for English Heritage. between Blenheim Palace and the town of Woodstock.

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303 Peter Conrad talks to David Freeman 310 Lucinda Lambton Verdi and/or Wagner: Two Men, Two Worlds, Two Centuries Palaces for Pigs: Animal Architecture and Other Beastly Buildings Blenheim Palace, The Marlborough Room / 10.30am / £12 (includes coffee/tea and cakes) Blenheim Palace, The Indian Room / 10.30am / £12 (includes coffee/tea Music from Verdi and Wagner will accompany this discussion as cultural historian Peter and cakes) Conrad talks to literary journalist and Buildings for animals are much broadcaster David Freeman about whether it more than a funny novelty, says is possible to like both composers. The two writer, photographer and great operatic composers achieved similar broadcaster Lady Lucinda Lambton. things but their personalities and approach to The British passion for architecture music made them incompatible. Conrad says and animals has led to some Verdi and Wagner offer a choice between two extravagant creations over the kinds of art and two ways of life. And he centuries. In Palaces for Pigs, explains how they each helped to define the Lambton tells the stories behind identity of their nations. castles for animals from goats and Conrad is a noted cultural critic. His previous guinea pigs to deer, dogs, cows and bees. She tells of a Grecian temple books include A Song of Love and Death: The Peter Conrad Meaning of Opera and Modern Times, Modern built for pigs in Yorkshire, of a red Places. sandstone elephant with a castle on its back built for bees in Cheshire and of a Gothic-arched cattle shelter topped with a pinnacled dovecote built in Rutland. It is also a story of famous architects such as William Kent, Sir John Sloane, John Nash and Capability Brown. All this is lavishly illustrated with Lambton’s own photographs. Lambton has worked on dozens of films for the BBC and ITV and written and taken photographs for many books. Her works include Temples of Convenience, a history of the lavatory, An Album of Curious Houses, and Lucinda Lambton’s A-Z of Britain, which accompanied a 26-part TV series for the BBC.

David Freeman

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316 A Guided Chocolate Tasting with 318 Neal Ascherson The East India Company Black Sea Beans of Paradise Blenheim Palace, The Indian Room / 12.30pm / £12 (includes a glass of wine)

The Feathers Hotel / 11am / £12 Journalist Neal Ascherson launches a new Ascherson has worked for the Guardian, The Scotsman, partnership between the Folio Society and the Observer and The Independent on Sunday. He has Blenheim Palace Literary Festival with a talk on lectured and written extensively about Polish and Eastern his latest book about the history and importance European affairs. of the Black Sea shores. The Folio Society, founded in 1947 by Charles Ede, Ascherson was travelling through the area in produces beautiful, illustrated editions of the world’s 1991 when a group of Communist conspirators greatest books. The emphasis is on combining the work seized Mikhail Gorbachev at his summer home in with high-quality typography, printing, binding, illustration the Crimea. Far from leading to a renewal of and expert introductions to produce a harmonious whole. hardline Communist rule, the incident eventually It has published a huge range of works from Moby-Dick to led to the collapse of the Soviet Union. Ascherson Midnight’s Children and from the Qur’ân to says he was made aware of the Kerouac’s On the Road. importance of the Black Sea region, where East meets West. In Black The cocoa bean is classified as cacao theobroma, Sea, he takes the reader on a tour of Photo: Marzena Pororzaly which literally translates as ‘food of the gods’. the region, where East meets West, recounting its earliest history, how Chocolate-lovers are invited to join The East India the poet Ovid was exiled to its Company on this tasting journey through luxurious shores, and Byzantium times when chocolates and delicious flavours. Explore the flavour caviar was so abundant it was profiles of one of the world’s most-loved sweets, and considered a poor man’s food. Black discover how its unique taste complexities are Sea, which combines personal created. narrative with a historian’s insight, is The event is designed as a journey of chocolate also the story of a modern ecological discovery, allowing people to enjoy rich and unique disaster with the once abundant samples while learning a bit more about this beluga, sturgeon, anchovy and delectable treat. dolphins at record lows. Sponsored by

Woodstock Presented by

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307 Anna Keay 311 Paul Preston, Lydia Syson and Richard Baxell. Chaired by Christopher Cook The Elizabethan Garden at Kenilworth Castle The Spanish Civil War: Fact and Fiction Blenheim Palace, The Marlborough Room / 12.30pm / £12 (includes a glass of wine) Blenheim Palace, The Courtyard Restaurant / 12.30pm / £10 Historian Anna Keay returns to It is more than 75 years since the military uprising against a Blenheim following her successful talk Republican government forged Franco’s path to dictatorship, but on the Crown Jewels to preview her new Spain has yet to come to terms with its past. While historians continue book on the Elizabethan garden at to unearth new facts about the complex story of the Spanish Civil War Kenilworth Castle. The garden created and the part played by the International Brigades, can novelists also by Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, at find fresh perspectives, igniting in a new generation of readers the Kenilworth Castle in the early 1570s was kind of passion for the subject Hemingway once inspired? one of the wonders of Elizabethan Our distinguished speakers discuss the relationship between fact and England. Exuberantly combining fiction, romance and political idealism and the endless fascination of medieval and renaissance elements, it a tragic and brutal civil war. Paul Preston, professor of contemporary Paul Preston was laid out in advance of Elizabeth I’s three-week visit to the Spanish studies at the London School of Economics, is an award- castle in 1575. The best documented of all the great gardens of winning author on Spanish history and biographer of General Franco, its age was the subject of English Heritage’s ambitious re-creation whose most recent books are The Spanish Holocaust and We Saw of 2009. The beautifully illustrated The Elizabethan Garden at Spain Die. Participants’ accounts are at the heart of Lydia Syson’s Kenilworth Castle, edited by Anna Keay and John Watkins who political romance, A World Between Us. Historian Richard Baxell’s oversaw the re-creation, presents the extensive research that Unlikely Warriors is the first comprehensive account of the British informed the scheme and describes the process by which the men and women who volunteered to fight to prevent another new garden was designed. It explores aspects of Elizabethan European democracy falling to fascism. gardening, the cultural achievement of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, the history of Kenilworth Castle and the philosophy of The panel is chaired by Christopher Cook, Lydia Syson reconstruction, and is a major addition to the study of English a cultural historian who began his career as garden history. a documentary film-maker, continues to broadcast on cultural matters for BBC Keay is a historian of the English monarchy, worked as curatorial Radios 4 and 5 and now teaches for director of English Heritage and is now director of The Landmark Syracuse University on its London Trust. She was curator at the Tower of London for seven years. Programme. She writes and broadcasts on English history. Her previous works include an account of ritual at the court of Charles II, The Magnificent Monarch. Christopher Cook Supported by

Presented by Ian and Carol Sellars Richard Baxell

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305 Steve Benbow and Sean Borodale. Chaired by John Carey The University of Worcester Lecture Inspired by Bees: Poet’s Muse and Lessons for Life

Blenheim Palace, The Orangery / 1.30pm / £12 (includes a glass of wine)

Beekeepers Steve Benbow and Sean Benbow started his first Borodale approach hive ten years ago on the one of our most- roof of his tower block in loved insects from Bermondsey and now has two different angles 30 sites across the city in this year’s including on top of the University of Tate Modern, Tate Britain Worcester lecture. and National Portrait Benbow, in his The Gallery. Borodale is a poet Urban Beekeeper, and artist. He wrote his Sean Borodale offers a practical poetry debut, Bee Journal, guide to keeping bees and making your own at the hive, wearing a veil honey, while Borodale, in his highly original Bee and gloves. It explores life Journal, chronicles the life of a hive in a series of and death in the wild and poems. Together, they will discuss what we can the relationship between learn from the way bees live their life. Do they the keeper and the kept have lessons to teach us on working for the and between the domestic Steve Benbow greater good? And what is it about bees that fires and the wild. Borodale was our imagination? And, importantly, what can we described by Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy as ‘a thrilling do to help preserve the threatened bee? Along new voice in British poetry’. the way, there will also be insights in how to start The event is chaired by Prof John Carey, a literary critic a bee hive yourself and poetry readings. and emeritus Merton Professor of English Literature at the University of Oxford. Carey has his own apiary in Oxfordshire and markets his honey through a local store.

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301 Hannah Rothschild talks to David Freeman The Baroness and Showing of Documentary The Jazz Baroness

Blenheim Palace, Courtyard Restaurant / 2pm / £15 (Event lasts 2 hours) Following the war she made a trip to New York and was captivated by a record by a young jazz musician Thelonious Monk. She left her husband and five children and immersed herself in the new jazz scene of New York. She supported some of the great artists of the day through their financial and other troubles, in particular Monk whom she moved into her home when his health declined. Over 20 pieces of music were named after Pannonica Rothschild. Pannonica Rothschild and Thelonious Monk

The Baroness is Hannah Rothschild’s investigation into The book is both a story of one of the world’s her great-aunt and is based on interviews with family wealthiest families and a fascinating insight into the Hannah Rothschild and friends and with Pannonica herself. jazz age. What made a member of one of Europe’s wealthiest families turn her back on her privileged lifestyle to Hannah Rothschild has made documentaries immerse herself in the New York jazz scene? Writer including Mandelson, The Real PM? and Keeping up and filmmaker Hanna Rothschild tells the story of with the Medici. Her features and interviews have her great-aunt Pannonica Rothschild in her book appeared in publications such as Vanity Fair, The The Baroness and in her documentary film The Jazz Telegraph, The Times, The Spectator, and Vogue. Baroness. Here she discusses her great-aunt’s life with writer and broadcaster David Freeman, before introducing a showing of the documentary.

Pannonica Rothschild’s life spanned a fascinating The 2nd Baron Rothschild was often seen with a zebra-drawn carriage period in history. She was born into the wealthy and privileged Rothschild family in 1913, marrying a Hannah Rothschild records tracking her great-aunt French baron before the outbreak of World War II. down to a New York jazz club in 1984. She had a long During the war, she was a lieutenant in the French list of questions but Pannonica just smiled and said: Resistance and decorated for her bravery. ‘Ssh… just listen to the music Hannah, just listen…’

Rothschild girls with their nannies

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306 Leslie Clack and Patricia Kessler 308 Jane Sanderson talks to Brian Viner 317 A Guided Tea-Tasting with The East India Company More Lives than One: Oscar Wilde Ravenscliffe and the Black Douglas The Finest Teas with the Tea Master Blenheim Palace, The Indian Room / 2pm / £10 The Feathers Hotel / 4pm / £12 Blenheim Palace, the Marlborough Room / 2pm / £10 Novelist Jane Sanderson Dear Conjunction Theatre returns to the festival to Company brings its acclaimed discuss her new novel Oscar Wilde show to the Ravenscliffe with her husband, festival. Written and performed journalist and non-fiction by Leslie Clack and directed by writer Brian Viner. The two will Patricia Kessler, it chronicles also explore the differences the highs and lows of Oscar between writing fiction and Wilde’s life through extracts non-fiction. from his work and scenes from Ravenscliffe is the sequel to his trials. Wilde led a very Leslie Clack Sanderson’s debut novel Netherwood. It takes the public life, often flouting the story on to 1906 and covers the early stirrings of the Join The East India Company on a tea-tasting conventional Victorian morality labour movement and women’s suffrage. experience through India, China, Sri Lanka, Japan, of the day. Ravenscliffe follows Russian emigré Anna and beyond, and explore the finest teas. More Lives Than One was Rabinovich as she transforms the home Ravenscliffe Journey back to where it all began, when China had inspired by Irish actor Micheál she shares with friend Eve Williams. Anna finds the world’s monopoly on tea, and see how this MacLiammóir’s one-man show herself attracted to union man Amos, but when Eve’s beverage has travelled through the centuries to The Importance of Being long-lost brother Silas arrives in the small mining become one of Britain’s most famous traditions. Oscar. It is a condensed community of Netherwood, cracks appear in Learn the difference between a white, green and version with new ingredients. It Patricia Kessler friendships. black tea, learn the best way to brew a truly was a hit at the Edinburgh Festival 2008 and has Sanderson grew up in a mining community. She bewitching cup, discover some of the rarest teas in since been seen widely in Europe and the USA. went on to work in local newspapers before the world, and taste an Earl Grey like no other. ‘With smooth and mellifluous voice Clack gives Wilde producing BBC radio programmes such as The Led by The East India Company tea master, Lalith lovers an informative and well researched show, World at One and Woman’s Hour. Viner is a former Lenadora, this guided tasting session is sure to peppered with excerpts from the great writer’s sports writer for The Independent best known for his delight and surprise. plays… An enjoyable and revealing evening for any long-running weekly sports interview. He is the Oscar Wilde fan.’ author of five books including Ali, Pele, Lillee & Me: Sponsored by Cecil Boys The British Theatre Guide A Personal Odyssey Through the Sporting Seventies.

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315 Mary Robinson Everybody Matters

The Orangery, Blenheim Palace / 3pm / £10 Dr Mary Robinson became the first woman President of Ireland in 1990. She is one of the most inspiring women of the modern age and has spent her life in pursuit of a fairer world. Robinson will reveal what lies behind the vision, strength and determination that has characterised her life and achievements and which she has now committed to print in her memoir Everybody Matters, published during the festival. She describes her upbringing, how her personal convictions led her into conflict with her parents, and how she helped to legalise contraception in staunchly Catholic Ireland. As an academic, legislator and barrister she sought to use law as an instrument for social change, arguing landmark cases before the European Court of Human Rights and the European Court in Luxembourg as well as in the Irish courts. As President she is credited with enhancing the image of Ireland and placing it firmly on the international stage as a modern country with a strong focus on humanitarian issues. After seven years as President, she spent five years as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. She established Realizing Rights in 2002 which came to a planned end in 2010. Robinson now heads her own foundation, Mary Robinson Foundation – Climate Justice, which seeks global justice for poor and marginalised people affected by climate change. Among her many awards and honours are the US Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Indira Ghandi and Sydney peace prizes. She is also honorary president of Oxfam International and a member of the Elders, an independent group of global leaders working for peace and human rights that includes Kofi Annan and President Jimmy Carter.

Supported by Ian and Carol Sellars

Join author Neal Ascherson on a dazzling journey around the shores of the sea where East meets West, from the days of Ovid’s exile to the purges of Stalin. The Folio Society edition of Black Sea received the Longman/History Today Award for Picture Research.

With beautiful illustrations, striking bindings and newly commissioned introductions, Folio Society books are a pleasure to read and a joy to receive. Browse our full range of titles, THE FOLIO SOCIETY starting from ,)+.+*, online at www.foliosociety.com. Beautiful illustrated books '($&%: The Black Sea by Ivan Konstantinovich. (Bridgeman Art Library) Box Office 01865 305305 • blenheimpalaceliteraryfestival.com FRIDAY 14th SEPTEMBER

304 Simon Winder 314 Philip Norman talks to David Freeman 100 Best Novels in English: The Penguin English Library Fifty Years of Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones

Blenheim Palace, The Indian Room / 4pm / £10 Blenheim Palace, The Marlborough Room / 4.30pm / £10 How do you pick the best 100 This year is the 50th anniversary of Photo: Justine Stoddart novels in the English language? What the formation of one of the world’s is it that makes them so great, and most iconic rock bands, the why are so many people inspired by Rolling Stones, and we have Philip them years, sometimes centuries Norman, author of the best book after they were written? Simon ever written about the band to Winder, publishing director of reflect on the story of the Stones Penguin, explains what went into the and its lead singer Mick Jagger. An choice of the 100 best novels in the updated version of Norman’s The English language for the new Stones is released this year Penguin English Library. Penguin alongside his new biography, Mick published 20 classic titles in the new Jagger, to coincide with the series in April and is publishing a anniversary. further 10 a month until the end of In his new work, Norman tells the the year. story of Jagger, who famously The series starts with Defoe’s Robinson never gives interviews, from Home Crusoe, the very first novel in English, and Counties schoolboy to the strutting spans two centuries up to Joyce’s Dubliners, rock demi-god who still bestrides the stage today. published just before the First World War. It It is a tale of scandal, controversy, prison, hordes of encompasses Austen, Dickens, Eliot, the female admirers and, ultimately, a knighthood. Brontës, Hardy, Wilde, Conrad and Lawrence Norman also uncovers a story of talent and promise to name but a few. unfulfilled. Winder will explore what makes some novels Norman, also author of bestselling biographies of survive well beyond their lifetime while others Elton John and John Lennon, talks to writer and are quickly forgotten. What do they tell us about the broadcaster David Freeman, and the discussion will human condition? And why do we keep going back be accompanied by music from the Rolling Stones. to some works to replay them? For example, between 1900 and 1975, there were more than 60 radio, television and stage productions of Jane Austen’s novels.

Box Office 01865 305305 • blenheimpalaceliteraryfestival.com FRIDAY 14th SEPTEMBER

313 Black Tie Literary Dinner with Frederick Forsyth Dinner in the Presence of HRH The Duke of Gloucester KG GCVO

Blenheim Palace, The Orangery / 7pm / £120 Photo: Gill Shaw Dress Code: Black Tie We are delighted to welcome international bestselling writer Frederick Forsyth as our guest speaker at this year’s prestigious literary dinner held in Sir John Vanburgh’s orangery at Blenheim Palace. Forsyth was awarded the Crime Writers’ Association Cartier Diamond Dagger Award this year for an outstanding lifetime contribution. His works need little introduction and many have been made into hugely successful feature films. They include The Day of the Jackal, The Odessa File, Dogs of War and The Fourth Protocol. His most recent novels are The Afghan and The Cobra. Forsyth will talk about the profession of writing for a living. He became a journalist after a spell as a jet fighter pilot in the RAF, working for Reuters and the BBC. He decided to apply the same research techniques he used in journalism to write a novel and the result was his first full-length work and international bestseller, The Day of the Jackal. His works are characterised by meticulous plotting based on detailed research. Dinner is preceded by a reception in the Duke of Marlborough’s beautiful Italian Gardens. The price of this event includes reception drinks, dinner and wines.

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27 Unparalleled personal service, ﬁrst class facilities and reﬁned luxury combine to make The Landmark London one of the world’s most prestigious hotels.

222 Marylebone Road, London, NW1 6JQ T: +44 (0) 20 7631 8000 E: [email protected] W: www.landmarklondon.co.uk Box Office 01865 305305 • blenheimpalaceliteraryfestival.com SATURDAY 15th SEPTEMBER

406 Angus Fraser talks to Brian Viner 405 Liz Earle Breakfast Bowl: Health of Cricket and Next Year’s Ashes Skin Secrets: Discover Healthy Beautiful Skin

The King’s Arms Hotel / 9am / £25 (includes breakfast) Event lasts 1 hour 45 mins St Mary Magdalene Church / 10.30am / £10

Former England test bowler turned cricketing Photo: John Welsby Beauty and health and wellbeing expert broadcaster Angus Fraser talks cricket with author and campaigner Liz Earle explores the and journalist Brian Viner in the return of our secrets of skin. She explains which popular sports breakfast. Join Fraser and Viner for botanical ingredients are best for young breakfast in the atrium of the King’s Arms Hotel and skin, which plant extracts are the best some discussion about the hot cricketing issues of wrinkle removers and why vitamin E is so the day. Conversation is sure to turn to the likes of good for you. And she explains that looking match-fixing, the health of test cricket and the good is about much more than how you much-anticipated Ashes series next summer. cleanse your skin – it is about what you eat, how you sleep and how you relax. Skin Fraser will also talk about his own career as a fast Secrets offers a long-term strategy for bowler for Middlesex and England. He played in 46 looking good and recommends therapies, tests for England, including three Ashes series, with supplements, exercise and recipes to keep his best bowling figures of 8/53 coming in a match Angus Fraser skin healthy and glowing. against the West Indies. He was cricket Photo: John Welsby correspondent of The Independent for seven years Earle is a best-selling author, broadcaster and is a regular on BBC’s Test Match Special and a and entrepreneur. Her interest in botanicals pundit on Sky Sports. He is currently managing and natural remedies led to an early career director of cricket at Middlesex County Cricket Club. as a magazine health and beauty editor. In 1995, she co-founded the Viner is a former sports writer for The Independent Liz Earle Beauty Co. The business uses natural, ethically sourced best known for his long-running weekly sports ingredients for its products and now has a multi-million pound interview. He is the author of five books including turnover and employs 500 people. Her books include Save your Skin Ali, Pele, Lillee & Me: A Personal Odyssey Through and Liz Earle Skin Secrets. Her broadcasting work includes the BBC the Sporting Seventies. series Beautywise and Eat Yourself Beautiful. Earle is also a strong campaigner and supporter of groups such as the Soil Association and Breakfast – coffee, juice, smoked salmon or eggs The Sustainable Food Trust. She also works with women’s Benedict is served at 9am. The event will finish at co-operatives in developing countries to source botanicals. approximately 10.45am. Brian Viner

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409 Rory Clements, Marina Fiorato and Harry Sidebottom. 412 Lunch with Peter Hennessey Chaired by Kate Parkin Distilling the Frenzy: Writing the History of One’s Writing The Past: Fact and Fiction in Historical Novels Own Times A Workshop by Three Leading Writers of Historical Fiction La Galleria / 12 noon / £28 The Oxfordshire Museum / 10.30am / £15 We are delighted to welcome Britain’s Event lasts 2 hours leading contemporary historian Lord Three leading writers of historical fiction, Rory Peter Hennessy to talk about the grand Clements, Marina Fiorato and Harry Sidebottom, talk themes running through the 20th and about the skills and secrets of writing for the genre with 21st centuries. Hennessey’s new work, fiction publisher for the publishing house of John Distilling the Frenzy, looks at all the Murray, Kate Parkin. Rory Clements main trends of the post-war era, including Britain’s impulse to punch Clements is the author of three bestselling crime novels above its weight, the consequent desire set in the Elizabethan era featuring intelligencer John for a nuclear weapons policy and the Shakespeare, brother of the more famous Will. He won secrecy around it, the contrasting styles the 2010 Ellis Peters prize for his second novel and achievements of prime ministers Revenger. His third novel, Prince, was published in from Attlee to Cameron, and the April to great critical acclaim. Fiorato is author of four success and failure of constitutional historical novels, including the bestselling The Marina Fiorato reform. Hennessy uses his own Glassblower of Murano. Her newest work, The Venetian experiences to tell the story through his Contract, is out at the end of August. Harry Sidebottom own eyes, lending added poignancy to is a lecturer at Lincoln College, Oxford, who has written the large historical themes. many bestsellers and broadcast widely on ancient warfare, classical art and the cultural history of the Peter Hennessy, Lord Hennessy of Roman Empire. His latest work is a novel, The Wolves Nympsfield, is Attlee Professor of Contemporary History at Queen Mary, of the North, set in AD263 as barbarian invasions University of London. He is author of many bestselling works including threaten Rome. Whitehall; Never Again: Britain 1945-51; Having it so Good; The Secret Harry Sidebottom State; and The Prime Minister. Fiction publisher Kate Parkin joined John Murray, publisher of Clements and Fiorato, in 2006 after a Meet Lord Hennessy over a three-course lunch at La Galleria in the heart of career including 11 years at Random House. Woodstock. This event is for a maximum of 35 people.

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408 Orlando Figes 402 David Priestland Just Send Me Word: Love and Survival in the Gulag Merchant, Soldier, Sage: A New History of Power

St Mary Magdalene Church / 12.30 / £10 The Oxfordshire Museum / 2pm / £10 Professor Orlando Figes tells the History shows that the world has been remarkable story of Lev and Sveta, a ruled by three different power groups Muscovite couple who were first or castes – the merchant, the soldier separated by the Second World War and and the sage – argues Oxford don Dr then when Lev was sent to the Gulag on David Priestland. These three groups arbitrary charges. Amazingly, Lev and struggle alongside the worker for Sveta were able to smuggle letters to power, and, when one gains each other and occasionally meet supremacy, it can be difficult to break during Lev’s ten years in an Arctic that grip. Priestland claims that when camp. The entire correspondence, the one caste becomes too dominant, it largest cache of Gulag letters ever usually signals a point of drastic found, has survived. Figes was given change – and that change can often access to thousands of letters and be violent. And he will demonstrate interviewed the couple, then in their how previous occupants of Blenheim nineties, for Just Send Me Word. It Palace have fitted into this caste makes for a fascinating and agonising system. account of life in Stalin’s Russia. Figes In Merchant, Soldier, Sage, Priestland will talk about the book and introduce describes a world showing all the some of the letters, which will be read classic signs of imminent change. The by actors. ruling power, the merchant, is under pressure from the Figes is professor of history at Birkbeck soldier and sage and a major power shift is on the cards. College, University of London. His He warns that society must learn the lessons of the past, previous works include Peasant Russia, particularly of the similar 1920s, if change is not to be as Civil War, A People’s Tragedy, Natasha’s devastating as before. Dance, The Whisperers and Crimea. Priestland is a lecturer in modern history at the University of Oxford and fellow of St Edmund Hall. His The Red Flag was shortlisted for the Longman/History Today Prize.

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31 Escape, relax and enjoy the beautiful surroundings. Indulge in fine food, complemented by a fantastic selection of wines. We are delighted to offer a very special midweek package:

Overnight accommodation in a Country Bedroom A three course dinner from our set Market Menu Full Cotswold breakfast the following morning

Prices start from £125.00 per person

The offer is inclusive of VAT, subject to availability and based on two people sharing a Country Double Bedroom. Available Sundays to Thursdays throughout September, October and November 2012. Upgrades to other room categories are available at a supplement.

For reservations please contact the Lords of the Manor Telephone: 01451 820 243 Email: [email protected]

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407 Jonathan Bate and Dora Thornton 401 Chris Gooddie Chaired by Dr Claire Cochrane The Jewel Hunter Shakespeare: Staging the World The Oxfordshire Museum / 4pm / £10 St Mary Magdalene Church / 2.30pm / £10 Leading Shakespeare scholar Professor Jonathan Bate and Renaissance expert Dora Thornton join forces to provide a unique insight into the lives of our leading playwright and his contemporaries. Shakespeare: Staging the World links historical objects and works of art with Shakespeare’s plays to show how the playwright informed his audience of major events and issues of the day. A 16th-century dagger found in the Thames gives significance to Jonathan Bate the gang violence of Romeo and Juliet, Henry V’s saddle, helm and shield recall the depiction of war in the history plays, and the gunpowder plot and Guy Fawkes’ lantern provide inspiration for Macbeth. Bate is Provost of Worcester College, Oxford, and formerly professor of Shakespeare and Renaissance literature at the University of Warwick. He is an Chris Gooddie gave up his job as a sales director to chase his dream of seeing all internationally acclaimed author whose works 32 species of the elusive and mysterious pitta bird in a single year, something no include Soul of Age: the Life, Mind and Works of one else had done. The Jewel Hunter chronicles his 12-month trek across Asia, William Shakespeare. Thornton is curator of Africa and Australia to view the birds. This was no holiday as pittas, a jewel-like Renaissance Europe at the British Museum and songbird, are famously elusive, living on the ground in remote areas of snake- author of several works including The Scholar in infested rainforest . Dora Thornton History: Ownership and Experience in Renaissance The Jewel Hunter is more than a tale of a birdwatcher’s Italy. Shakespeare: Staging the World has been published to coincide with a obsession. It is a true and humorous tale of one man’s major new exhibition at the British Museum. efforts to escape the midlife crisis, about the strange Chaired by theatre scholar Dr Claire Cochrane of Worcester University, much of people he meets in faraway places, about trekking in wild whose published work has focused on Shakespeare. Her most recent book is jungles and about crawling on the forest floor and coming Twentieth Century British Theatre: Industry, Art and Empire. face to face with venomous snakes.

In association with Woodstock Presented by Woodstock

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404 David Crystal 410 Anne Somerset 403 Sheila Hale Spell it Out and The Story of English Queen Anne: The Politics of Passion Titian: His Life in 100 Words Methodist Church / 4pm / £10 The Oxfordshire Museum / 6pm / £10

St Mary Magdalene Church / 4pm / £10 Blenheim Palace and its Photo: Caroline Forbes Sheila Hale’s biography of Titian, one of the world’s One of the leading experts estate – venue of the greatest artists, is the first account of his life to be on the English language literary festival – is published in more than 130 years. Publication Professor David Crystal asks inextricably bound to the coincides with a major new Titian exhibition at the how many words it takes to life of Queen Anne. The National Gallery as part of the 2012 Cultural tell the story of a language. monarch gave the estate to Olympiad. The artist’s career spanned more than 70 He reflects on his personal her loyal and successful years during the Renaissance. Titian was a difficult choices for The Story of commander Marlborough man but was courted by popes and kings, English in 100 Words, and, and his wife Sarah completing up to 600 paintings. Hale examines his for the first time in a long Churchill, herself an intimate friend and confidant of life and art and his impact on artists of the time and and illustrious linguistic the Queen. The Marlboroughs exerted great influence right up to today. over Anne but the relationship turned very difficult and career, he turns the Hale is author of many works including a highly they were forced into exile after a final quarrel. spotlight onto the evolution of English spelling. acclaimed guidebook to Venice that prompted Eric This, he says, is a subject he always avoided, In her new work, acclaimed biographer Anne Newby to declare she deserved a Nobel Prize. In because he could not see how to handle the huge Somerset describes the politics and personality Titian: His Life, she examines not only the life of the range of idiosyncratic spellings that confuse clashes that surrounded the reign of Queen Anne, artist, but also Renaissance Venice. She explains English learners. He will explain why he changed whose life was riven by passion, illness and intrigue. how it was overshadowed by Rome and Florence but his mind and wrote his latest book, Spell It Out, She describes how the final break with Sarah Churchill grew into the famous city we know today. and why he does not find English spelling so scary

was precipitated by Sarah’s claim that it was the Photo: Caroline Forbes Presented by after all. Queen’s lesbian infatuation with another lady-in- the Woodstock Crystal has written more than 100 books during a waiting that had destroyed their friendship. Despite the Literature long career as a linguist, academic, writer and intrigue and infighting, Anne emerges as a successful Society. broadcaster. He is best known for his two ruler who set her nation on to the path of greatness. encyclopedias, The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Somerset has won acclaim for her accessible works of Language and The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the popular history including her biography of Elizabeth I. English Language. He has worked on several TV Her books also include Unnatural Murder: Poison in series and documentaries including the BBC’s The the Court of James I, which won the Crime Writers’ Routes of Welsh, The Way That We Say It, and The Association Gold Dagger for non-fiction. Word on the Street. In association with The Woodstock Woodstock Woodstock Bookshop. Woodstock

35 SATURDAY 15th SEPTEMBER Box Office 01865 305305 • blenheimpalaceliteraryfestival.com

411 Lindsey Hilsum, Eugene Rogan, and David Aaronovitch. 414 Literary salon and dinner Chaired by Munir Majid Syria and the Arab Spring La Galleria / 7pm / £95 Good conversation and excellent food are the hallmark of the new literary salon we St Mary Magdalene Church / 6pm / £10 are introducing this year. There will be lots of authors – including Deborah We have a reputation for covering Harkness, Peter York, Martin Kemp, Ken Hom, Madhur Jaffrey, Robert Hewison issues of international significance. and Jerome Burne – but no talks. Instead, guests are invited to join in a A year ago a distinguished panel of conversation with our invited writers about anything that takes their fancy and to speakers debated the ‘Arab Spring’ enjoy a traditional Sardinian meal cooked by chefs at Woodstock’s La Galleria and asked what to expect from the restaurant. It harks back to the traditional idea of a salon where guests can pro-democracy uprisings in the exchange thoughts and ideas and enjoy themselves in good and stimulating Middle East and North Africa. One Lindsey Hilsum Eugene Rogan company. year on and what has happened to This is a new departure for the festival and it promises to be an evening with a the Arab Spring? Is there a transition difference. Most of the writers will be appearing at the festival and will be happy to to democracy and lasting peace or discuss their work or issues of the day. The price of the event includes a full has the promise failed to materialise? Sardinian menu and wine, featuring antipasti, main course and dessert.

World attention has turned to rapidly Woodstock changing events in Syria. What are the political consequences of a fall of Photo: Oxford Picture Library the Assad dynasty? What government might fill the power vacuum in a post-Assad era – secular, Islamist or David Aaronovitch Munir Majid coalition, and what are the likely geopolitical consequences? Should the West intervene in Syria and, if so, what form should this take? These and other questions will be debated by our distinguished panel, Dr Eugene Rogan, director of The Middle East Centre, St Antony’s College, Oxford, and author of The Arabs: A History; David Aaronovitch writer, broadcaster and commentator; and Lindsey Hilsum, Channel 4 News international editor and author of Sandstorm: Libya in the Time of Revolution. Discussions will be chaired by writer-scholar Dr Munir Majid, author of 9/11 and the Attack on Muslims, holder of top positions in the Malaysian public and private sectors over the past 33 years, and presently visiting senior fellow at LSE IDEAS (Centre for International Affairs, Diplomacy and Strategy). Supported by Woodstock Ian and Carol Sellars

36 SATURDAY 15th SEPTEMBER

413 Deborah Harkness All Souls Trilogy: Shadow of Night

St Mary Magdalene Church / 10.15pm / £10 A candlelit church at the dead of night is the perfect venue for a spooky introduction to Professor Deborah Harkness’s All Souls Trilogy. Historian Harkness has flown over from the United States to be at the festival to talk about her trilogy, which follows the story of Diana Bishop, a historian and reluctant witch who falls in love with mysterious 1500-year-old vampire and genetecist Matthew Clairmont. The All Souls Trilogy began with A Discovery of Witches, which was a worldwide top-ten bestseller and is now being turned into a Hollywood movie. The second volume, Shadow of Night, which features an opening sequence in Elizabethan Woodstock, was published in July and debuted at number one on The New York Times bestseller list and number two on The Sunday Times bestseller list. Harkness is a scholar and student of history. She is an Established in 1981 by Interior Designer and Author Henrietta expert in the history of magic, alchemy and science in Spencer-Churchill. Specialists in residential design from renovation Europe, especially between 1500 and 1700, and was a of period properties to new build houses. Experts in incorporating Fulbright Fellow in Oxford, rowed for Keble College, and current trends and technology whilst respecting the historic character has spent spells researching at the Bodleian Library and and architecture. Commissions undertaken worldwide. All Souls College library. She has written works of non- fiction, including the award-winning The Jewel House Woodstock Showroom 7 High Street, Woodstock, OX20 1TE +44 (0)1993 811 887 [email protected] about the practice of Elizabethan science, before turning London Oﬃce 26 Sulivan Road, London SW6 3DX to her novels. Her career in fiction began when she says +44 (0)207 731 8399 [email protected] she began to wonder ‘if there really are vampires, what do they do for a living?’ Prepare to be spooked! www.spencerchurchilldesigns.com Woodstock

37 Liaison is proud to be a partner of The Blenheim Palace Literary Festival at Woodstock. We hope you enjoy this unique opportunity to listen to and meet some of the nation’s most celebrated authors. Liaison is the leading UK provider of strategic tax advice, related recovery and compliance services into the NHS and other public sector bodies. In addition to the tax services, Liaison uniquely provides the most comprehensive range of forensic review and cash recovery services available to the public sector. Over the past two decades, Liaison has developed a reputation for providing specialist knowledge, support and expertise to the NHS We constantly innovate; pioneering new services to help our clients save money.

Liaison Court, Vincent Road, Worcester, WR5 1BW Tel: +44 (0)845 603 9000 Fax: +44 (0)845 603 9001 Email: [email protected] www.liaisonfs.com

SUNDAY 16th SEPTEMBER Box Office 01865 305305 • blenheimpalaceliteraryfestival.com

504 Ross King 511 Jerome Burne 516 Peter York Leonardo and the Last Supper The 10 Secrets of Healthy Ageing Jim Lee’s Arrested

Blenheim Palace, The Courtyard Restaurant / Blenheim Palace, The Marlborough Room / Blenheim Palace, The Indian Room / 10.30am / £12 10.30am / £10 10.30am / £12 (includes coffee/tea and cakes) (includes coffee/tea and cakes) Writer Ross King Award-winning Writer Peter York talks returns to the festival medical journalist about the biography he to tell the story of one Jerome Burne argues has written of his great of the world’s best- there is much that you friend, the photographer known works of art, can do to age better. and film director Jim Lee. Leonardo’s The Last In the groundbreaking Lee was born to parents Supper. The image is The 10 Secrets of who were MI5 operatives. familiar to everyone Healthy Ageing, Burne He emigrated to Australia but its execution is not and co-writer health when 17 and, after his so. Leonardo was in a nutritionist Patrick parents rescued him from fighting in Vietnam on the state of professional Holford say that ageing grounds of national security, he returned to the UK uncertainty and well does not depend to concentrate on photography. He photographed financial difficulty. The on good genes, and they explain how latest research The Beatles and The Rolling Stones and became Last Supper was a complex mural painted on a shows there is much that we can do to encourage much in demand as a fashion photographer, surface 15 feet high by 20 feet high. our bodies to age well. Scientists have discovered collaborating with many leading designers. His work that markers for how well you are ageing, found in is now on permanent display at the Victoria and King tells the story of the creation of what came to every cell of the body, can be altered by, among Albert Museum and shown in galleries worldwide. be seen as a ‘miraculous image’. He describes the other things, the food you eat, the exercise you do, Somerset House celebrated Lee’s 50 years behind difficulties faced by the artist, the experimental and the way you handle stress. Burne will reveal the camera this year with a display of his stunning techniques he employed, the models he used and some of the ways of doing this including what images. The title, Arrested, refers to Lee famously the personalities involved, including the Duke of vitamins you need, a low-glycaemic-load diet, surviving three post-cardiac ‘technical deaths’ and Milan, Ludovico Sforza, who commissioned the work. staying connected with friends and family, and many other shocks to his system. King’s previous works include Brunelleschi’s Dome, keeping active. Lee chose York to write his biography as the two have a top-10 New York Times bestseller, Michelangelo Burne has been a health journalist for 20 years and been close friends for 45 years. York is author of the and the Pope’s Ceiling and Machiavelli: Philosopher writes for many national newspapers and magazines, Sloane Ranger Handbook and was style editor of of Power. in particular the Daily Mail. This year he won the Harpers & Queen for ten years. He is also a Leonardo and the Last Supper was ‘Book of the Medical Journalists’ Association award for medical passionate advocate of the coffee table book and says Week’ on BBC Radio 4. science explained. literary festivals should do more to promote them.